


Can I kiss you?

by donnarafiki



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Draco Malfoy Speaks French, Fluff, M/M, and a beach, and fluff, and he's bff's with bill and fleur, but also very insecure from time to time, drarry oneshot, lots of teddy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 12:17:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donnarafiki/pseuds/donnarafiki
Summary: Teddy had been over the moon when Harry had allowed Draco to tag along with the annual Weasley beach weekend when Andromeda couldn't come. Draco not so much.Would Teddy's cousin and godfather ever get along?





	Can I kiss you?

**Author's Note:**

> I have never written such a long thing in such a short period of time (1.5 days), so I hope it's not too much of a mess.
> 
> Anyway, in honour of Harry Potter's birthday, I hereby present to you the beach fic no one asked for

Teddy had been over the moon when Harry had allowed Draco to tag along with the annual Weasley beach weekend when Andromeda couldn't come. Draco not so much. It wasn't that he didn't like the Weasley's, or that after ten years he still held the same stupid prejudice against 'blood traitors' or anything like that. It was just awkward.

Andromeda had become one of Molly's best friends and they practically lived together now. Harry was obviously a Weasley in everything but name, and even Narcissa was well liked among the ginger family. She was now, being the new charms professor, a colleague of both care of magical creatures teacher Charlie and flying instructor Ginny. All of them blended in easily enough. All of them fit in and got along with each other.

Draco was Teddy's only caregiver who had never officially been welcomed into the family.

Obviously with good reason, he really had needed to work on his people skills after the trials to put it lightly, but he couldn't deny it hurt that after all the effort he'd put into becoming a better man, after even getting a french and arabic languages degree at a _muggle_ university, people still saw him as an ex-death eater and nothing more. Even Harry, who'd testified for him at his trials, only talked to him because he had become Teddy's second main caregiver, after Andromeda. That had happened after the saviour himself dropped out because he had to deal with breaking up with Ginny and his huge mental break down at the same time. The man never seemed to enjoy their chats much though.

Again, that was understandable given their shared past, and maybe even for the best since this alienation had only fueled Draco’s drive to prove the whole damn world wrong and beat every single last bloody bit of his prejudice. But now that he'd achieved that, he found that no one actually noticed, and it threatened to make him bitter and undo all of his hard work.

Not that Draco would ever turn into the muggle hater he was before again, since he worked with muggles now as translator and found them to be quite impressive and resourceful. It was just that he was rapidly starting to resent the Weasley's again.

Not all of them, Bill and Fleur were actually his friends and he sometimes worked with Hermione, but the others didn't beat around the bush when it came to their dislike of him and had openly glared when he'd arrived at the huge muggle beach house they rented each year.

He’d had no trouble reading the hint, and now he was lying on the beach on a miraculously sunny day, clearly separated from the others with a safe ten yards between him and them. He lay in a long white shirt and swimming shorts on his belly reading through his spanish textbook. It was hard to focus though, with the laughter filled air constantly reminding him that he didn't actually belong there. That feeling lasted a full two hours, because only then did Teddy come back from the waterside.

"Draco!" He tried to look up from his book but couldn't. His cousin had decided his shoulder blades were _the_ place to sit right now and his weight kept him pinned down. Seconds later Draco felt Ted's fingers in his long, loose lying hair and he knew what time it was. Teddy was going to braid his hair again.

Really It wasn't that bad, his Dutch braids were even very good, but Draco never passed up the opportunity to fake fight with the kid. Teddy was well behaved and everyone adored him, but Draco rather suspected Teddy needed an adult to tell him off once in awhile, even if both parties knew by now that it was faked.

"Don't touch my hair Ted, you'll mess it up." Draco told him in an annoyed tone.

"And? You're a mess too, so that would match perfectly." Teddy shot back dryly, without his fingers leaving Draco's hair for a second. Draco laughed, that was a new one.

They continued their banter until Teddy had finished his braids, which had turned out rather nicely. He might not be more well liked when his hair looked good, but he still preferred not looking like a mess despite being one.

"Now you look just like the elf from lord of the rings!" Teddy exclaimed, admiring his handiwork.

"Legolas?"

"Yes that one. Oh you need new sunblock!" Teddy exclaimed when the saw the time on his way too fancy and expensive divers watch. Draco sighed, the kid would not pass up on the opportunity to take care of him, since he knew bloody well Draco went through all of this trouble for him and the kid had an immensely caring nature.

"I'm going to fetch uncle Ronald's sunblock, he's got the extra strong stuff with him." He announced before running off. Despite the departure of his cousin’s warm body Draco was still sweating like a pig in the long sleeve shirt he was wearing. Taking it off would mean revealing his scars though.

Not that Teddy had never seen those before, he even knew the story behind most of them. It was just that Draco didn't want the Weasley's to see, especially not Harry, because he didn't want them to start talking to him out of pity. He'd rather be ignored for the rest of his life than become a charity case. He had too much pride left for that.  
Draco eyed the Weasley's. They seemed busy enough with each other, and his scars weren't nearly ar red as they'd been once.

 _Fuck it, they probably think I earned my punishment anyway if they see them_ , an overheated Draco thought before sitting up and pulling off his shirt. Then he laid back down on his belly and continued his studies. If he mastered spanish he could speak that, english, french, italian, arabic and turkish. A rather Impressive list and a very practical and necessary skill for someone who worked as interpreter for refugees from time to time, alongside his job as french translator for the ministry. It was his way of repaying the world after all the harm he'd done to it.

  
It wasn't long before Teddy was back. He nearly squealed from excitement when he saw Draco had taken off his shirt. "Are you coming swimming with us now?" He beamed with excitement as he pointed at Draco's bare chest. The scar tissue glistened a bit in the bright afternoon sun.

"Sure, once you're fini-" But Teddy had already jumped at the opportunity and was busy covering every surface of Draco's back with sunscreen. Soon Draco was soaked in it and ready to go. It seemed he was the only adult who fancied a swim, since the kids playing at the waterside were there without any supervision except for an anti-drowning charm. Typical gryffindors.

"Draco look! I made a sand hogwarts!" Victorie dragged him off to her newly build sand castle, which looked more like a messy sand mountain then hogwarts, but hey, Draco wasn't the asshole he used to be anymore so he complimented it anyway. Soon after the other weasley kids, who all liked him much more than their parents did for some reason (probably because of Teddy's exaggerated stories), had dragged him off into the sea. They were playing some sort of game with a beach ball, which mostly seemed to involve trying to drag _him_ under water as soon as they failed to catch the ball.

Draco rather enjoyed it, and not just because of the fun the kids seemed to have, but too because of the stunned faces the Weasley's pulled when they saw their kids liked him. He may or may not have even showed off a bit more because of that, adding more drama to his fake near drownings and going along with all the wicked but fun ideas of the kids. He hadn't had this much fun in a long time, and after half an hour he’d completely forgotten about their audience.

But of course the fun wouldn't last long. He was still Draco Malfoy after all.

"Ouuu!" Draco spun around to see Victorie wail in serious pain. "I stepped on something!" She almost fell as she clutched her foot. He couldn't spot anything wrong with it just yet, but still caught her and carried her to the beach. Some of the Weasley adults were stirring, but Draco ignored them. Instead he dried and studied Victorie’s foot. She'd stepped on a poisonous fish.

"Hold on Vic, I'll fetch my first aid kit. Ted, keep her foot in the air and away from the sand." Teddy nodded dutifully and Draco ran off to fetch his bag. He was back before any of the Weasley's had arrived, and quickly sat down at Victorie’s side. The sting was placed in between her toes, in such a way that the tiny sucking device he'd bought with him wouldn't work. To get the poison out anyway Draco put his lips around it and sucked.

Within seconds his mouth was filled with a disgusting bitter taste. He spat the poison out before sucking again several times until nothing came out anymore. Then he cleaned the spot with fresh water from his bag and sprayed it with a generic pain relief and disinfecting potion. Teddy usually fell at least ten times per day, which had made it standard equipment for him.

"It's cold." Victorie sniffed.

"It's supposed to be cold. That prevents your foot from getting twice as big." Draco answered before putting one of his clean socks over her foot to protect it from the sand.

"Is my foot going to be twice as big?" The girl asked scared.

"Not with this stuff on it." He shook the bottle and gave her a warm reassuring smile. "Now you just have to keep it high in the air and you need ice."

"But its already cold." The pain had diminished enough for her to be confused by Draco's words.

"Well the ice is not for your foot, it's for your mouth. For the shock." He pulled his wallet from a side pocket in his bag and handed it to Teddy.

"Fancy getting some icecreams with me at the supermarket?" Teddy grinned and nodded enthusiastically. Draco gave another reassuring pat on Vic's leg and took her in her arms. Then he set off towards the other Weasley's. Bill and Fleur, who luckily were among one of the few Weasley's who liked him, were already on their way towards them.

"Draco, que s'est-il passé ?" Fleur asked as she eyed her crying daughter. She always switched to french around him.

"Elle a marché sur un poisson venimeux, je pense. J'ai déjà extrait la majeure partie du poison, donc ça ne devrait pas trop gonfler, mais il faut garder son pied en hauteur et propre . "

"Ça ira. Merci pour ton aide . " Bill said gratefully as he took Victorie over from him.

" Ce n'est pas un problème. ," Draco shrugged, but he became tense as soon as he saw Harry, Ron and a very pregnant Hermione approach them. "Ça va rester assez douloureux pendant un certain temps, donc je pense que Ted et moi on pourrait peut-être leur acheter, à elle et aux autres enfants, une glace pour la réconforter."

"C'est une excellente idée, et merci d'avoir amusé les enfants. On a eu une sorte de désaccord familial, donc c'était pratique de ne pas les avoir dans les pattes." _They’d been having a family thing._ Of course that wasn’t something he had any business in. After all he didn’t belong there.

Fleur gave him a pat on the back and looked at where the other kids were still huddled together, looking a bit lost. "Je vais m'en charger maintenant." With a dazzling smile she was off towards the kids, and the golden trio had nearly reached him and Teddy. His scars were still exposed since he wasn't wearing a shirt. _Fuck._

"Come on Ted, let's get some ice."  
He swung Teddy under the guidance of a loud excited squeal over his shoulder and took off. When he noticed an extra set of adult footsteps following them he quickened his pace. He didn't want to be seen like this, not when he already felt so unwelcome. Teddy seemed to catch on and lowered himself until he hung over Draco’s back, blocking the knife marks that read _traitor_ and _liar_ . A gift from his aunty Bella after he'd failed to identify Harry.

"Malfoy wait!" It was Harry of course. He was on speaking terms with the man, and sometimes they even accidentally had a fun time talking together, but it never lasted long and Harry always seemed to be in a hurry to get away from him.

"I can't, the ice will melt." He answered as he kept on walking.

"You haven't gotten any ice yet!" Harry had reached them now and Draco felt awful as Teddy let his hair grow out in an attempt to cover his chest. The kid shouldn't have to be so sensitive for other people's uncomfortableness.

"Maybe the freezer just broke down and it's melting in the supermarket." He replied as they mounted the steps towards the tiny beach store. He refused to look at Harry. Teddy's long blue hair tickled one of his nipples, and he absentmindedly scratched it.

"Well that's a bit far fetch-" Harry froze. He'd seen the scars. _Fuck_ .

"Did I leave those?" Harry asked shocked. When Draco glanced sideways he saw the man had paled visibly. He sighed and decided to come clean entirely right away. It wasn’t like Harry would leave the matter alone if he just told him to bugger off anyway.

"Nope, that would be my aunty Bella." He tapped the long pinkish whip marks Harry had been staring at. Teddy let his hair grow short again to reveal the rest of his scars. Hiding them was pointless now.

"She wasn't satisfied with the first sketch so she whipped them out." Draco looked down at the lashes that went from his left armpit to his right nipple. "But these are yours." He pointed out the thin diamond shaped lines, barely visible in between the rest of the scars.

"And this was Fenrir, this the other snatchers and this is from a hippogryphs beak.” He pointed at the bite marks on his side, the acid burns on the left of his navel and arm and ended the tour with the three massive cuts near the waistband of his trousers. “I’ve got a paw print of a hippogryph too but that's covered now since it’s on my upper leg. And then there are the _liar_ and _traitor_ engravings on my back, some burned and some cut out with a knife." He added matter of factly.

"And now we're not going to talk about them anymore because they make Draco sad and he is that quite enough already." Teddy suddenly cut in, and he tightened his arms around him. Harry looked like he might protest, but then Teddy started a long rambling over how he and Victorie had climbed their neighbours apple trees once, so the man gave up for now. He did keep shooting Draco poorly hidden glances filled with pity every two minutes.

Not that Draco noticed them much. He’d been rather touched by Teddy's concern about his recurring sadness and was completely lost in his thoughts as they got back to the beach house.

"Qu'est ce que tu nous as pris, Draco?" Bill asked with a jovial grin. Draco's head shot up, and in order not to be overwhelmed by the stares, less hostile than usual but far from friendly, he focussed solely on him and his wife.

"Oui Draco, qu'est ce que tu as pris? J'espère que ce n'est pas trop calorique, je dois surveiller ma silhouette." Fleur gave him a fake stern look, which made him smile despite the stress the situation brought along.

"Comme si tu ne pouvais pas manger cinq tonnes de glace par jour et rester mince quand même! Mais pas d'inquiétude, je n'ai pris de glace que pour les enfants." He answered.

Bill immediately sank to his knees."Je suis un enfant aussi, regarde comme je suis menu! Je peux avoir de la glace aussi maintenant?"

Draco laughed at the sight of the stunned faces of the Weasley's, Victorie's annoyed 'daaaad, don't act so stupid!' and Bill’s childlike excitement for snacks. "Ok, ok, ok, très bien. Tu auras ta glace, mais seulement si tu arrête de nous faire honte, à ta fille et à moi, Bill."

Bill looked around and got up. "Fine, I'll be the boring adult again. Can I get my ice cream now?"

Five minutes later the ice had been distributed and Draco was hauled off to the side by Victorie and Teddy. Vic's foot seemed to be okay again and now they were both dying to braid Draco's hair. He didn't mind it much for now, it gave him a good reason not to engage in conversation with the others.  
Or so he thought.

"Malfoy, can I talk to you?" It was Harry again. Draco rolled his eyes from where he was seated on the ground with the two eight year olds on their knees around him.

"No!" Victorie flat out said before Draco could answer. "No distractions during braiding. And it's Draco uncle harry, not _Malfoy_ ." She pronounced the last word as if it was something disgusting like vegetables.

"Uhm... I don't think I can call him that Victorie. Or can I?" Harry asked doubtfully. Draco wanted to look up before answering but couldn't because Victorie roughly pushed his head back down.

"No distractions during braiding!" Teddy filled in for her. He obeyed their orders, using Teddy’s scolding to avoid Harry's awkward question.

"Uhm, can I talk to you later then?" Again he wanted to look up, but Victorie slapped him before he could even try.

"You can if you stop distracting him now!" Judging by her tone she was glaring at Harry. "We'll fetch you once we're done."  
Draco didn't really know what to think about that as Harry's footsteps disappeared. It was probably better that _he_ would answer Harry's questions, since otherwise Teddy would tell him and that wasn't right either. Still Draco didn't like it much. He didn't need to be this close to Harry in order to know his childhood crush hadn't died down, and being near the man would make it harder to ignore the longing.

True to their word Teddy and Vic ran off to fetch Harry as soon as the braiding was done. Draco wasn’t exactly looking forward to the talk, since the kids had put in some experimental braid and he was pretty sure he had pig tails. He tentatively felt his hair. Yes, yes those were definitely pigtails. He got up and fled into the bathroom of the big beach house to check out the damage before Harry could spot him.

His hair had been transformed into an art piece. The blond locks nearly reached his ass, and now there was some sort of round zigzag crown braided around his head as well. Two braids left the circle near his ears, disappearing into two pigtails at the side of his head. It wasn't conventionally pretty, but it was far from terrible. Draco was just busy touching them when Harry walked in.

"You look cute with pigtails." The man flapped out, and a dark blush spread over his face immediately after. Draco snorted surprised. Flustering the saviour, he'd never expected that to happen again. Maybe those pigtails weren’t so bad after all. He could even try to have a little fun now that they were here. It wasn’t as if Draco had a reputation left to destroy anyway.

"I don't look cute with pigtails. I look fabulous." He flicked one of them in Harry's face as he turned around fashion model style. The man got even more flustered from it.

Now _that_ was cute. Draco laughed, still surprised by Harry's strong reactions to him.

In his turn Harry mumbled something, and then elapsed into silent staring, his eyes darting between Draco’s face and chest. He must look ridiculous. A chest covered in gruesome torture scars topped off with five year old girl style pigtails and a braided crown.

"Eyes up here Potter." Draco announced to break the awkward silence, and he pushed Harry's chin up with a single finger. The man had been staring a tad too long at the scars for his liking. Again Harry had an odd reaction to the gesture. He grasped Draco's hand in his own and suddenly bore his green eyes into Draco’s with an intense look of guilt and sorrow, mixed up with something unidentifiable.  
It made the smile disappear from Draco's face. He stepped back until he was pressed against the sink, pulling his hand away like Harry had burned it. Suddenly images of that night in the bathroom in sixth year washed over him. His eyes darted over the room they were in now. Four toilet stalls, a giant mirror, four sinks. A bathroom for sure.

"I'm so so sorry for what I did to you Malfoy." Harry's voice trembled and Draco couldn't bare the pity in his eyes. He turned around and stared at the sink, making the scene look even more like eleven years ago.

"Because it ruins your image as the goody two shoes hero? Don't come to me talking about reputation damage." Draco spat bitterly, suddenly slipping back into his teenage self for the first time in ages. It worried him how easy that still was.

"No!” Harry exclaimed shocked. “Because I feel legit awful about what I did that day! Because most of the Weasley's still don't like you and I never said anything to change that until today. I'm truly sorry for what I did Malfoy. I really am." There was an edge of desperation in Harry’s voice.

Draco sighed, frustrated with himself and his sudden mood swings. It was probably the lack of food, he’d skipped both breakfast and lunch today. He glanced in the mirror. _Damnit_ it was hard to stay angry at Harry when the guy wasn't wearing a shirt.

"It's Draco." He turned around and offered a still flustered but now also stunned looking Harry his hand.

The man didn't take it. He just stared. And then spoke.

"How... how?" Harry stammered, nodding at his chest.

"The scars? Punishment after I refused to identify you at the manor that one night. The peace offer? Because I'm bloody well done with holding grudges after a whole bloody decade." It was Draco's turn to stare at Harry now. To let his eyes dart between his face and the abs lower down. They were covered in scars too, which stood out starkly amidst his dark skin. It suited him well.

"Eyes up here, Draco." Draco felt a finger push his chin up. His other hand took his still extended hand and shook it. "I'm sorry." Harry whispered. A tear glistened in his eye. "For never noticing, never asking, never-."

"Shut up Potter." Draco cut in quickly before Harry could start a rant. "I don't need your pity."

"Harry." Harry corrected.

"Well shut up Harry then." Draco shot back. Harry chuckled despite the tears on his face. Draco wiped them away. "Don't cry you dick. Unless you stood on a poisonous fish too you have no right to cry."

"No right?"

"No. It was my choice and my past and it's my decision who gets to feel bad about it and who doesn’t. I have hereby decided that you don't have my permission so stop it." Draco wiped away another tear that had sneaked out of Harry's eye.

"Thanks." Harry whispered against Draco's knuckles. "For being such a good guardian to Teddy."

He stepped closer. "For trying and succeeding in becoming a better person even though no one helped."

He stepped closer again, until his body was only an inch away from Draco's. "Even though no one noticed."

"You noticed." Draco breathed, surprised by the truth behind his own words. Apparently Harry _had_ noticed. Who would have thought?

"Only after ages and ages of shoving it in my face." Harry closed the last gap between them. "Thank you." He breathed against Draco's lips.

"Harry, Draco, dinner is..." Bill froze in the doorway. "Oh. Never mind." He added weakly, and shut the door.

"Ulgh that's just my luck. Getting cock blocked by the only Weasley who does like me." Draco muttered under his breath. His entire body, though some parts more than others, was buzzing with anticipation. He was suddenly not sure anymore if Harry felt the same way though, and his next words weren't exactly reassuring.

"Yeah I wanted to ask you about that. How did that happen?"

"His sister in law used to be my roommate and Vic loves coming over to my place." Draco sighed. Not against Harry's lips though, the other man had taken a step back. It didn't look like he'd step in again any time soon so Draco just kept on talking to prevent the atmosphere from turning awkward. "That together with Teddy was enough of a base for some sort of friendship. I often babysit over the weekend or make dinner when Bill and Fleur both work late. They’re nice people."

"Oh." Was all Harry said in return. It was quiet then, and Draco felt the moment he'd been longing for since fifth year slip away from him. He should be used to that empty feeling by now, given his track record, but he wasn't. He didn’t think rejection would ever not feel awful.

"Can I kiss you?" Harry asked out of the blue in a tone as if he'd asked for a slice of bread. It kicked off another mood swing, and suddenly Draco feared that Harry was only interested in him because he felt like he owed him for the scars. For the torture.

"Why would you want to?" Harry was taken aback by the question. Probably because standing aligned with Draco's body had made him feel that Draco himself _definitely_ wanted to be kissed. Draco wasn't going to let him though, unless he was absolutely certain it wasn't an act of guilt.

"What do you mean?" _Merlin’s beard there is no elegance in gryffindors_ , Draco thought annoyed despite his sudden insecurity.

"Because you saw my scars for the first time an hour ago and now suddenly you want to kiss me. I'm not here to soothe your guilt Potter. I kiss ass for my pleasure, not yours." Draco crossed his arms. It didn't feel appropriate to use Harry's given name now. He glared at the messy haired man, whose face went from puzzled, to even more puzzled to deep, deep crimson.

Suddenly an even more awful idea rose in his mind.

 _Oh Merlin Harry wasn’t straight now was he? Was that why he got so flustered around him? Because Draco was gay? Did Harry think he could kiss away the guilt that came with the scars because of that?_ He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was too exhausted from life to deal with this.

“You know what never mind. Find someone else to rid you of your war guilt. Just don’t ever try it again with me.” He pushed himself away from the sink and towards the door, carefully avoiding to touch Harry. He didn’t even slap him in the face with his pigtails even though the man definitely deserved it. “My life has been shitty enough without a straight man kissing me out of guilt. See you at dinner, _Potter_.“

He slammed the door shut behind him and stalked onto the patio. He swore to Circe if it hadn’t been for Teddy’s excited squeal when the kid saw him again he would have left right after. From one of the best, this had turned into one of the worst days of his life.

Ulgh.

* * *

  
  
"So then Draco got into the car and he drove me all the way to grandma to fetch it." Teddy ended his story with a proud beam at Draco. He'd been telling them about the last moon. Teddy had refused to sleep without his stuffed animal so Draco had driven a few hours to fetch it with Ted in the back seat. The kid loved to listen to the rumble of the engine when he couldn’t sleep from the pain. Sometimes Draco just drove for no reason other than that. It was nothing really, but Teddy always made things like that sound as if they were proper hero stories.

Draco himself barely noticed. He was too busy avoiding Harry’s gaze and pushing around his desert. He always stopped eating when he felt bad, and at the moment he felt utterly miserable. He was surrounded by people who glared at him and kids who looked worried at his change in demeanour. Seeing them would make him feel even worse.

Draco didn’t see any kind adult faces either, since he avoided not only Harry but Bill and Fleur too. The half french couple had encouraged him to 'get out there' more than once and he didn't want to see their disappointment and pity. He hated both sentiments with all his heart.

"Can we go for an evening walk Draco?" Teddy asked tentatively. "To look for seashells?"

"Sure little man." Draco agreed with little enthusiasm. " Whatever tickles your fancy."

Teddy beamed and hopped off his chair. Mrs. Weasley had just announced dinner was over, so Ted immediately scattered off to gather the other kids. Soon enough they were armed with bags and buckets and ready to go.

"Can I tag along too?" It was Harry again. Tact was apparently not a gryffindor trait either.

"No I'm not talking to you right now." Draco answered stiffly without looking at him or the other Weasley's. "Come on Ted, let's go."  
Together with the majority of the Weasley kids Draco headed for the sea. He didn't have to look around to know the eyes he felt staring at his back were hostile. They always were.

* * *

  
  
It was getting dark when Draco returned with the kids and a buttload of sand and shells. They were all very worn down and tired, which resulted in a lot of yawns and no talking. Draco didn't fancy disturbing the coffee hour of the adult Weasley's so he and the kids took the back door.

He then gathered them in the big bathroom where they were all cleaned from sand with a flick of his wand. A few quick summoning charms later all of them had a pyjama and toothbrush, which they all put on and used with surprising little protest. The kids were all neatly tucked away in their assigned rooms half an hour later, a unique achievement in Weasley history. Not that Draco knew or cared about that, he just wanted to go to bed.

"Kids are sand free in bed with pj's and clean teeth but I suspect some still want a good night kiss." Draco told the adults as he stuck his head around the patio door. "Good night to all."

"Don't you want some coffee too Draco? Or some cake?" Bill asked, shooting him a worried look. He was the only one who did that, the others seemed to baffled to speak. Draco had to suppress an eye roll as he politely refused, then he went back inside and disappeared into his room.

He took a long wank-free shower, drenched his skin in moisturiser and dived under the covers, still feeling awful. Teddy was fast asleep on his side of the bed. He never wanted to sleep alone so close to the full moon, so Draco had pushed their two queen size beds together earlier that day. Draco slept in at half past one, unable to stop rewinding the bathroom scene in his head. Harry never tried to knock. Neither did Bill or Fleur. Not that it mattered, he already knew he’d never belong here.

* * *

  
  
"Draco." Draco stirred but didn't wake up. "Draco I have cramp again." No reaction. "Draco please. I can't move."

It was the hurt and desperation in Teddy's voice that pulled Draco out of his deep sleep at half past four in the morning. He opened his eyes to see Teddy in an awkward cramped up position in the half dark.

"It's okay. I'm awake, I'll just get the stuff." Draco rolled out of bed and gathered the muscle relaxants and heating packs. Teddy often woke up in extreme pain without being able to move when the full moon came closer and now that he was getting older it happened more often. Draco was frequently firecalled by his aunt since Teddy found his massages and stretch exercises worked the best. Draco felt awful for the kid.

"I'm sorry to wake you." Teddy whispered from where he lay in his bed.

"No problem little man. That's what I'm here for now, isn't it?" Draco whispered back before he started working out the knots in Teddy's back.

"It's not. You should be having fun too. You're a changed man, you don't deserve the others treating you like shit." Teddy replied, before groaning out a lot more curse words when his cousin deepened his massage movements. Draco quickly cast a silencing charm on the room.

"That's their decision to make, you can't force people to like each other Ted." Draco briefly thought back to his first day at hogwarts, the many disappointed looks of his father, the awful scene in the bathroom in sixth year, the punishment from his aunt, the ever so frequent hostile stares and the agony from the day before.

"Well that's stupid." Ted concluded after a while. "What happened yesterday?"

"Your uncle Harry felt guilty for the scars I got trying to save him, and had a rather awful way of repaying me." He confessed. The kid would find out from talk-before-you-think Harry otherwise anyway.

"What did he do?"

"You can ask him, but it's best left alone I think." He replied. Teddy mumbled something about adults being stupid and then elapsed into silence. After about an hour Draco took Teddy outside with him for some fresh air and the stretching exercises that wouldn’t fit in their small room. Some of the kids were already awake and watching the telly indoors, but they knew better than to disturb Teddy when he was like this. Only Vic followed them outside and joined in with the stretching. She knew Teddy appreciated her silent company at times like this.

After nearly half an hour Teddy was close to pain free and the two kids were jumping about again. Draco watched them with half an eye as he sank down in one of the big chairs with his face towards the upcoming sun. The fresh seaside air was doing miracles for his sleep deprived brain.

He didn't notice Hermione joining him until she sat down in the opposite chair with her huge belly and uttered a low moan. She was nearly nine months in now. Rose was getting her brother soon.

"Morning." She greeted.

"Morning." He replied. Hermione absentmindedly scratched her arm. _Mudblood_ . Watching it Draco could see Bellatrix had tried harder on him than her. The handwriting was messy. It was the first time he saw them up close even though he'd done several translating jobs for her over the years and they were on amicable terms now.

"It itches, doesn't it? Bella's knife." He nodded towards the scars.

"They do. At first I thought it was a nervous tick, but the blade was poisoned. It's maddening." She sighed, and eyed him from the side. He could almost smell her guilt.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you after you saved Harry. And me and Ron too I suppose." There it was.

"Are you going to kiss me now too?" Draco inquired dryly as he played with a lock of hair that had sprang loose from the giant bun on his head.

"What?" Hermione asked perplexed, sitting upright and staring at him.

"Oh he hasn't told you yet? Potter tried to come onto me in the bathroom yesterday, to soothe his guilt after seeing the torture scars I suspect." He was still talking in a light tone, but it sounded forced and unnatural now.

"He did what?" Hermione was properly baffled now. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open.

"He asked if he could kiss me. Got terribly flustered around the entire thing, but then kissing a guy as a straight man is rather daunting when you're not drunk I suppose." He flicked the lock away, only for it to land in his face again. He had to fix that before the others woke up. He had terrible bed hair.

"Harry's not straight." Hermione announced relieved, as if she’d solved a great puzzle. "He was just flustered because he likes you."

"He likes the idea of me, a redeemed death eater, and the idea of ridding himself of the guilt he feels. He doesn't like me. I'm not a very likeable person." Draco pulled his hair out of the bun by removing two pieces of rope and three rubber bands. It fell over his face like a curtain before he pushed it away to make a new bun.

"That's not true. I like you. You're good at your job and a blessing with the kids." She gave him a sharp look. "And Harry does like you."  
Draco opened his mouth in protest, there had been nothing likable about Harry's emotionless _can I kiss you?_ from the day before, which he told Hermione. The woman clearly didn’t agree with Draco’s perception of things, but before she could reply Bill came up to greet them.

"Fleur is asking for help in the kitchen, could you...?" He pointed at the door with his thumb, and Draco quickly got up, glad to have found a way out of this awkward conversation.

“I’m not done talking about this!” Hermione yelled after him.

“But I am!” He shot back before leaving the patio.

An hour later his hair was braided and breakfast was ready. Draco was just on his way to the patio with a tray of juice when he was roughly pulled into an adjacent room. Several glasses toppled over and Draco's crisp white shirt was suddenly orange. "What the-"

"Oh! Sorry Draco, uhm, Malfoy. I didn't mean to..." Harry, _it was always Harry_ , stammered. Draco didn't even try to suppress his eye roll.

"What do you want, Potter?" He asked coldly, eyeing the flustered man with disdain. He hated how his stomach still did a salto at the sight of him. He should hate Harry for the stunt he pulled the day before.

"An apology. Or apologise, to apologise I mean. Me to you, not the other way around, that would make no sense." Harry nearly broke his tongue as he tried to get the words out.

"No need for that.” Draco interrupted before the man could say he was sorry again. “Now if you-"

"Bye. I'm sexual. Not bi, I mean yes bisexual. Damnit I can't talk with you. Around you I mean." Harry put a frustrated hand through his hair but still kept his eyes fixed on Draco. They were filled more with frustration than sorrow as far as Draco could see in the half dark room, but that didn’t make the jumbled up words any easier to understand.

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked a bit lost. Going from carrying juice to attending the messiest coming out ever was a bit much on the early morning, and he didn’t exactly follow Harry anymore. Harry looked like he didn’t exactly follow himself anymore either.

"I liked you. Like you, but like, I did that out of guilt. No I mean before the guilt. I'm not guilty, or no I mean... Shit I should have written this down I'm not making any sense."

"Indeed you're not." Draco said slowly, taking a step backwards. His knees immediately met the bed behind him and he nearly fell. The impact let him drop the tray with juice on the floor. He flinched at the sound, it really was too early for this.

"Can I kiss you?" Harry asked out of the blue, again. To his credit there were a lot more emotions in the question now, but Draco wasn't that easily persuaded.

"Why?"

"Because I want to. You're hot. And nice, like in a nice person. I mean you’re still a dick sometimes, but in a nice way?” The last line came out more as a question than a statement. “Please I'm not making a very good case here but it's not out of guilt or anything I promise." Harry awkwardly bit his lip. "Please?"

Draco pondered on the question. On one hand he _really_ wanted to kiss Harry, on the other hand his life was complicated enough without co-parenting an eight year old werewolf with his ex-rival _and_ ex-lover, and he didn't think Teddy would be able to bear Draco getting sad again. But then he thought about Teddy's face when the little guy would find out about him and Harry. How happy he would be if it did work. How much he needed something positive now that his transformations kept getting more painful. He sighed, and gave in.

"Give it your best shot, Potter."

And damn sure Potter did. Harry stepped closer, making Draco nearly fall backwards onto the bed. Nearly, because Harry had wrapped one hand tightly around Draco's long braid while the other enclosed his waist. He kissed Draco hard. A bit too hard if you asked him, but as soon as Draco opened his mouth and took over the lead in the kiss things improved fast.  
Draco regained his balance and now it was his turn to push Harry backwards until the man was pinned against the wall. He pressed his scarred, with orange juice soaked chest against Harry. Partially to get him covered in juice too as some sort of petty revenge and partially because dammit he'd been longing for this for ages and the way Harry moaned underneath him left no doubt about it; Harry was definitely bi and definitely not doing this out of guilt.

After less than ten seconds Harry started tugging on the buttons on his shirt. "May... may I?" He asked breathlessly, breaking away from the kiss for a second. Draco pressed against him harder, squashing Harry's hands between their chests.

"No." Draco was suddenly roughly pulled back into reality by an attack of lightheadedness. "I only slept three and a half hours last night and haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday. I'd pass out."

"Why?" Harry's gaze shifted from horny to worried within less than a second. Draco was touched, the concern seemed genuine.

"Teddy had a cramp attack at half past four and I can't eat when I'm stressed." He confessed. It was hardly sex talk but if Harry was really interested then this shouldn't scare him off, and if it did...  
Then at least he’d know before he got in too deep.

"Are you stressed now?" Harry kissed him lightly on the lips before trailing down, placing kisses along his jawline and neck.

"No." Draco breathed. "Just hungry, horny and a bit tired."

"Did you do the heating pack thingy again? And the stretching?" Harry murmured against his collarbone.

"Yes, and then I had an extremely awkward conversation with Hermione before I helped with breakfast."

"What about?"

"You. And what you did yesterday."

"I'm sorry. For that." Harry looked up and wrapped his hand around Draco's hair. "But not for this." He flattened his palm against his chest. "They show how brave you were." Harry stood on his toes and kissed Draco's nose. It tickled and almost made him sneeze.

He chuckled from the absurdity of it all. "Thanks."

"Now let's get you something to eat that isn't ass." Harry said as he groped Draco's butt. "Since you can’t eat that when you’re starving."

* * *

 

“What are you getting Harry for his birthday tomorrow?” Teddy asked him as soon as they were alone in the kitchen. The others were doing a morning dive but Teddy couldn’t handle the cold well after a cramp attack. That didn't dampen his spirits this time though. Ted had jumped up and down from excitement when he spotted Harry and Draco were holding hands under the table. It had become clear to Draco after only five minutes that Harry didn’t just fly fast. He did whatever it was they were doing fast too. Draco didn’t think he’d ever been on the level of holding hands with any of his previous (and often short lived) relationships.

“Oh, I don’t know yet.” _Probably something way too inappropriate to tell you about_. “We weren’t exactly on gift-giving terms before this morning.”

“I know what you could give him.” Teddy’s face bore a cheeky grin as he eyed his cousin.

“And what is that?”

“A family. He’s always wanted one. He tells me so at least once a week.”

“And how am I supposed to give him a family?” He asked as casually as he could manage. His heart jumped at the idea of marrying the stupid git one day, even though that was all in the far far far away future. But he became a little uneasy too. Harry’s first two reasons for wanting to kiss him were _because I want to. You're hot._ Maybe he just got off on scars, maybe he’d just had cold hands during breakfast, maybe he was this intense with all of his lovers, maybe he just had a speech impediment, maybe...

“Well usually the answer is marry and have babies, but you’re both men so that doesn’t work.” Teddy’s ponderings interrupted Draco’s dark thoughts in the most pleasant way. “I thought maybe you being with him is enough. I really do believe he likes you very much and aunt Hermione does too and she’s always right according to uncle Ron.”

“So what, I'm supposed to give myself as a birthday present? Put a gift ribbon in my hair and jump in his arms?” Now that he thought about it that might not even be a terrible idea for a joke. And Harry did seem to like his long hair an awful lot.

“I thought maybe we could invite him to our room? And then give him breakfast in bed. I remember how sad he looked when he thought no one was watching when it was uncle Ron’s birthday and he got breakfast in bed. He has always woken up alone on his birthday since he and aunt Ginny split up.”

“Well he can’t wake up next to me if I have to make him breakfast.” Draco said weakly as his entire body but mostly his heart turned soggy at the thought of so many domestic scenes. He’d never even dared to let himself dream about having a family after the war, let alone having one with Harry.

“Then I make the breakfast and you do the lying down. and I’ll put a ribbon in your hair! Teddy beamed and got up. “I'm going to find one right away, don't go anywhere!”

Draco wouldn’t go anywhere. Getting breakfast in bed delivered by Teddy as he lay next to Harry Potter on the man's birthday, at liberty to kiss him…

He wouldn’t actually do it of course, for Circe’s sake he hadn’t even kissed Harry until four hours ago, but it was nice to think about. Very, _very_ nice to think about.

* * *

 

Merlin Draco had fucked up. Big time. And though it might not be his worst fuck up ever it definitely felt that way.

He should have never gone along with Teddy’s wild ideas of course. Should have encouraged the kid to stay quiet about his plan, should have flat out refused to carry it out, should have never held Harry’s hand under the table, should have never let himself lose control of the situation by daydreaming about Harry again.

Should have.

But he hadn’t.

He hadn’t and now Teddy had gone and told Victorie about his plan to make breakfast ‘for his family’. Vic had then told her mother, who had told Bill. Draco arrived in the kitchen just in time to hear Bill tell Hermione all about it. Just in time to flee the beach house before Harry came back from swimming. Just in time to have a semi-dignified retreat.

Not that he could leave though, not matter how much he wanted to he couldn’t leave, because Teddy needed him the most this close to the full moon. So instead of leaving he’d done the next best thing; Sulk in the sand half a mile away from all and everyone. He was missing lunch because of it, but that didn’t matter much now. Starving or not he wasn’t eating anything any time soon.

“Hey.” _Why the fuck do you always turn up when I don’t want you to, Harry?_ Draco thought while his face turned crimson from being caught sulking and alone like a five year old. He even looked like a five year old since Teddy had put in those bloody pigtails again before running off to ruin his life.

He didn’t say anything like that though, but settled on “hey” too.

“Why aren’t you at lunch?” Harry sat down next to him in the sand. Draco glanced sideways to see the strong seaside wind play with Harry’s messy hair. The two of them silently watched the waves come and go until Draco had gathered the courage to answer.

“Stress.”

“Why?”

“Hasn’t Hermione told you?”

“No.”

“Oh.” He didn’t know what to say to that. He wasn’t going to tell Harry himself, but also knew that Hermione would tell Harry soon enough when he got back. Either way the tale would make Draco seem way too eager and he didn’t think he was ready to move that fast. He just wanted to go back in time and stop all of this from turning into the impossible mess it was now.

“Hermione hasn’t told me anything that would give you a reason to be so stressed out. Though it’s usually me who moves this fast.” Harry shrugged. “But then we always were a tad more competitive than others. Chasing the snitch and all that.” Draco kept his eyes fixed on the gentle lapping of the waves, but he didn’t actually see them anymore. His ears rang from Harry’s words. It didn’t sound like his mistake had send Harry running.

“I do think for mine and Teddy’s sake we shouldn’t turn it into a race though.” Harry added. His tone was serious, but not in a bad way. “We don’t want to break up at the finish.”

“We?” Draco flapped out before he could stop himself.

“The family Teddy was planning to make breakfast for tomorrow morning. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look this happy.” Draco couldn’t stop a small chuckle from escaping him as he thought about the tiny happy werewolf.

“Since when can you string more than two words together?” Draco asked curiously as his eyes darted sideways to glance at Harry. His stress levels were diminishing now that the man really didn’t appear to be scared off by his wicked birthday idea.

“Oh Merlin don’t remind me.” Harry dropped his head in his hands in embarrassment. Draco snickered. “Oi! Don’t laugh at me you utter twat! It was your own bloody fault!” Harry gave him an amicable shove.

“And how exactly is your speech impediment my fault?” Draco asked bemused as he rubbed his really not that painful ribs.

“Well you were the one who turned up here being the most bloody attractive asshat I’ve ever met!” Harry exclaimed. “With your stupid fluent french and your stupid long hair and your stupid pigtails and your stupid utter brilliance when it comes to handling Teddy and the other kids.”

“Et bien à ce que je sais je parle toujours français, and neither did any of the other things change. So that can’t be it.” Draco flicked one of his pigtails in Harry’s face. Harry had gotten him utterly flustered with his rant and Draco could do little else but annoy the man to hide his embarrassment. “Speak up, Potter. What did you do?”

“Realising I don’t have to be nervous around my crush anymore. I think making him my boyfriend did the trick.” Harry whispered, and Draco could just hear his embarrassed smile through the words.

“I don’t remember agreeing to that, _Potter_ ”  He reenacted his eleven year old self to the best of his ability, and got a loud snort back from Harry as reward for his effort. Draco shifted in the sand to get a better look at Harry. He’d forgotten how much fun it was to tease him.

“And I don’t remember Hermione telling me anything shocking this morning apart from how awful your hair looked, _Malfoy_.” Harry shifted until their noses were mere inches apart.

“Well she was wrong then. My hair always looks fabulous.” Draco turned away to look at the sea again, but mostly to hit Harry in the face with his pigtails. He didn’t succeed though; Harry had caught his hair and firmly wrapped it around his hand. They briefly locked eyes before Harry yanked him down on his back.

“Can I kiss you?” Harry breathed in his ear.

“I swear to Merlin if you ask that one more time I will punch you in the balls so hard you turn into a bloody eunuch.” Draco grumbled before reaching out to grab a handful of Harry’s messy hair in return. He couldn’t do anything with it though, because once again they were interrupted by Bill Bloody Weasley. Or rather, his patronus.

“Hermione just went into labour. We need you at the house.” The silver hound announced before dissolving into a thin mist.

Draco laughed at the perfect timing of it all. At the world showing him exactly what he was afraid of. At realising that he secretly was a giant fucking sap and would totally melt and execute Teddy’s plan tomorrow anyway as soon as he saw the newborn. At Harry’s stupid flabbergasted and kissable face hanging over him. At fate finally pushing him in the _right_ direction for once.

Or so he hoped anyway.

“Looks like I don’t have to share my birthday with anyone after all next year.” Harry uttered weakly as he slowly got over the shock.   

“Yeah you do.” Draco told him stubbornly before standing up and pulling Harry to his feet. It suddenly dawned on him that it was just breakfast he’d promised. He could do breakfast, and he had already been doing the Teddy part for years now. He could do this. “If you’ll have me that is.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> did it make sense?  
> No?  
> Not even a little?  
> I guessed as much, but I didn't want all my hard work to go to waste...  
> Comments and kudos are loved and welcomed and cherished forever!!!!!
> 
> EDIT 
> 
> Here are the french translations
> 
> Draco, what happened?
> 
> She stepped on a poisonous fish I think. I sucked out most of the poison already so it shouldn't swell too badly, but her foot should be kept high and clean/
> 
> Will do. Thank you for your help
> 
> It was hardly a problem
> 
> It will still stay pretty painful for a while so i was thinking maybe Ted and I can get her and the other kids some ice cream as a distraction.
> 
> That's a nice idea of you, and thank you for entertaining the kids. We had a bit of a family thingy so it was practical not to have them around for a bit.
> 
> I'll take over now
> 
> What did you get us Draco?
> 
> Yes Draco, what did you get? I hope there's something low fat, I do have to keep an eye on my figure.
> 
> Like you couldn't eat five litres of ice a day and still be skinny. But no worries, I only got ice for the kids
> 
> I'm a kid too, look I’m tiny! Can I get ice now?
> 
> Okay Okay Okay fine. You'll get your ice cream, but only if you stop embarrassing me and your daughter to death Bill
> 
> Well as far as I know I still speak french,


End file.
